


A Work in Progress

by literarybrat



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward First Times, Break Up Talk, Dating, F/M, Falling In Love, First Love, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Growing Up, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24898186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literarybrat/pseuds/literarybrat
Summary: Annabeth Chase has never been more ready for university. She climbed her way to the top of her class throughout high school and managed to get accepted into a good college - with a nearly full ride. The college experience was at her fingertips. She was ready for her life to begin.With the help of friends, new and old, Annabeth is ready to navigate her way through the world and achieve her dreams that she has been pining since she was a young girl. She was going to make her mark here and now. No one was going to stop her.Let’s just hope her roommate’s boyfriend doesn’t make her lose focus.It's all just a work in progress.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 17
Kudos: 80





	1. The Kit-Kat Killer

Annabeth Chase’s roommate had a boyfriend. 

Correction: a _hot_ boyfriend. 

At least, she assumed it was her roommate’s boyfriend. She’d met Rachel Elizabeth Dare a couple of weeks ago before school began and she hadn’t ever mentioned a boyfriend in the time that they met. Instead, Rachel had mentioned there were a lot of attractive guys at NYU, and Annabeth was sure to attract a whole bunch of them (not that Annabeth was particularly interested in looking). Rachel had never mentioned being taken herself, though. 

Now, this usually wouldn’t have been a problem, if it weren’t for the fact that he was laying on what was supposed to be Annabeth’s bed when she was moving into her dorm for the first time. At least, she _assumed_ it was her bed since the other side of the room was littered in art supplies, and the bed had a canvas of a painting of a landscape that was half finished. The real problem was the fact that Annabeth’s dad was the one that was helping her bring her stuff to the dorm room and the last thing he probably wanted to do was leave his daughter in her dorm room with a _boy_ in it.

When Annabeth first saw him, she brushed him off, figuring he was in fact Rachel’s friend or boyfriend. No harm in that, as long as the guy wasn’t a pervert and would move off her bed so that she could unpack. 

Meanwhile, her dad blanched at the doorway of the dorm, staring at this boy with wide eyes. It was almost like he had never seen a boy in his life. He stammered out something, placing down the boxes he also held in his arms beside the ones Annabeth had placed down. Her father’s noises of shock seemed to capture the boy’s attention, who seemed to have been watching some sort of video on his phone. He sat up, pulling his earbuds out.

“Oh, hey,” he said with the brightest smile Annabeth had ever seen someone make in her direction. “You’re Annabeth, right? Rachel told me about you.” He didn’t seem to give too much attention to Annabeth’s dad, probably because he wasn’t used to seeing adults in the dorm rooms.

Annabeth offered him a small polite smile. She was never good with people, much less those of the opposite gender. She found herself glancing around the room, looking for Rachel. The last thing she wanted to do was have a conversation with him. Her dad didn’t look like he was taking this guy being in Annabeth’s dorm that well. He knew Annabeth was going to have to encounter boys, he probably just hadn’t expected it to be so soon.

In Annabeth’s defense, she hadn’t expected it to be so soon either.

The guy didn’t seem to notice Annabeth’s discomfort and he stood up, towering a good few inches over Annabeth, and stuck out his hand for her to shake. “I’m Percy,” he introduced. “Percy Jackson.”

Not wanting to seem rude, Annabeth shook his hand and was surprised at how rough and calloused it was. “Nice to meet you,” Annabeth said, then quickly pulled her hand back. She could feel her ears turning red from looking at him. The guy was built like a machine, he was wearing a tank shirt that revealed his biceps that were defined so nicely. And he smelled like the ocean breeze. Whatever cologne he was wearing was working wonders on her. 

“So,” Annabeth asked looking around, “where is Rachel?”

“Annabeth!”

Annabeth turned around and saw Rachel Elizabeth Dare walk into the dorm room, her hands full of all sorts of junk food, ranging from candy bars to mini bags of chips and soda. 

“I was wondering when you were going to get here!” She went over to her side of the room, which was only a few feet away from Annabeth’s own bed, the one Percy had been laying on. Rachel dropped the junk food, which Percy attacked viciously, unwrapping a _Kit-Kat_ and taking a bite of it, without breaking the bars off.

Rachel pulled Annabeth into a hug, which the white Virginian girl was not used to.

Annabeth didn’t return the hug.

When Rachel let her go, she turned to Annabeth’s dad, who had just been standing there awkwardly, seeming to be mentally debating whether to take Annabeth and go or just let her do what she has to do.

“And you must be Dr. Chase,” Rachel said. Her curly red hair was tied up in a bun that was messy and coming undone. She was dressed in a big Harvard school t-shirt and, Annabeth _hoped_ , a pair of shorts underneath that couldn’t be visible. She had a smear of yellow paint on her cheek. 

“You, sir, have the same look as my daddy had when he first dropped me off in my dorm freshman year,” Rachel said, patting Dr. Chase on the shoulder, making the older man look at his daughter for some assistance.

Annabeth shrugged her shoulders, amused to see how Rachel was going to go on with her little tangent. Rachel was big on talking, Annabeth usually didn’t mind. It was even better watching her talk to an adult who had more or less no idea what on Earth was going on.

Rachel continued, dropping her hand. “He was just as worried about me being on my own. The world is too cruel to pretty girls nowadays but I promise you, Dr. Chase, I’ll take really good care of my girl Annie here.” Rachel grinned and threw an arm around Annabeth.

Annabeth felt some discomfort but went along with it. She needed to open up more. That’s what she was here to do. 

Frederick Chase looked at his daughter, a hint of concern in his eyes. He seemed to be asking: _You sure you’ll be okay?_

“I’ll be fine, dad,” Annabeth reassured him with a smile. “Piper is just down the hall anyway. I’ll call you later tonight, I swear.”

Annabeth hoped that at the mention of Piper, her best friend, he would relax. Piper and Annabeth were practically inseparable. Not to mention that Piper was overprotective of Annabeth, as long as Piper was within the state of New York, she would come to Annabeth's rescue at any time. That's just the kind of friend that she was.

Dr. Chase didn’t seem to be too reassured by Annabeth’s words, but he also knew that if Annabeth wanted out, she would have stalked right out of the room. So, he nodded his head and waved at her, not giving her a hug. Neither of them were too big on hugging, but Annabeth didn’t mind. 

“Then I’ll talk to you later tonight, kiddo,” he said with a gentle smile. His eyes kept flicking over in the general direction of where Percy had gotten himself comfortable on Rachel’s bed, still chowing down on the _Kit-Kat_ in the most chaotic and feral way Annabeth had ever seen.

“Okay, dad,” Annabeth said with a gentle smile. She waved as he left and Rachel smiled at Annabeth, letting her go. 

Rachel smiled. As Annabeth’s father left the room, Rachel returned to her bed and sat close to Percy grinning at Annabeth, some excitement sparkling in her eyes. It was clear by the way her body language was around Percy that the two of them were quite close. When Percy draped an arm over Rachel's shoulder and gave her a sweet grin, it confirmed Annabeth's suspicions.

“This year is going to be so much fun,” Rachel said.

Annabeth hesitated in answering. She started having some doubts. She was excited but the nerves were really starting to settle in. She applied to a big named university hoping to break out of a shell she had built for herself. Yet, here was someone, _Rachel Elizabeth Dare_ , trying to crack that shell and Annabeth wouldn’t even let her. Maybe the hug was a big step. Not even Piper tried to hug Annabeth. Annabeth just needed to take small steps in opening up. Baby steps. Rachel and Percy were the first of many people she was bound to meet. She wasn’t going to get cold feet just yet.

Percy smiled at Annabeth as he was finishing up his _Kit-Kat_. It made her gut twist. Curse Rachel for having an overly attractive boyfriend who ate _Kit-Kat_ ’s weirdly.

“Yeah,” Annabeth said, returning the smile to him before focusing her attention back on Rachel. “It will be.”


	2. The Textbook Thief

Percy Jackson _insisted_ on helping Annabeth unpack.

“I can unpack my own stuff,” Annabeth told him. She was unpacking a few books she had brought with her into a small neat pile on her bed. Percy passing the books to her in an attempt to help. 

“I bet you can,” Percy said with an affirmative nod of his head. “I bet you can also tie your own shoelaces but it doesn’t kill to get help now and then.”

Annabeth blinked. “Why would I need help to tie my own shoelaces?”

Percy didn’t respond as he paused, taking a look at a book he pulled out. It was a big hardcover book. It was a book Annabeth had bought years ago- well, _stolen_ from a library, but that was beside the point. 

“What is this book?” Percy asked suddenly. Annabeth snatched the book out of his hands. “It isn’t, like, Harry Potter or anything.”

“No,” Annabeth admitted, “they aren’t. Harry Potter is overrated, anyway.” 

Annabeth placed the large textbook on the bed as Percy lifted the empty cardboard box. Annabeth took it out of his hands and began to disassemble it. She could feel Percy’s eyes trailing her and at the corner of her eyes, Annabeth could see him staring at her, with his mouth hanging open. Annabeth bit the inside of her cheek, restraining a smile. 

“You did _not_ just call _Harry Potter_ overrated,” Percy said with a scoff. “They defined the idea of modern storytelling.”

Annabeth began to stack the books neatly beside her bed, shaking her head. 

Rachel Elizabeth Dare was sitting on her bed and painting, her legs crossed and she had paint stains on her hands. She didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the conversation. Her red frizzy hair was tied back with a green bandanna and her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration.

“Maybe,” Annabeth said with a shrug. She sat on her bed and looked up at Percy, raising her eyebrows at him. “But I don’t really care. I’m not into fantasy too much.” 

It was true. While Annabeth did enjoy a good fictional novel every now and again, she much rather preferred to read something and gain knowledge about certain topics.

Architecture was her favorite subject to learn about.

“Alright,” Percy said. He sat on the ground, leaning his back against Rachel’s bed. Annabeth noticed how Rachel glanced over at her boyfriend and smiled at him affectionately. He wasn’t even facing her but the gesture was so sweet, it made Annabeth’s heart twist. Rachel really did love him. “So, what is that book? I didn’t catch the title.”

Annabeth looked at the little stack she made beside her bed. The book was resting underneath all of the other books she had brought along to her dorm. It was a bit difficult for Annabeth to usually make out words, her dyslexia being to blame. 

“It’s a dictionary.” Annabeth looked back at Percy. “For architects.”

Percy’s eyebrows furrowed together as he looked at the stack of books and he nodded his head. “Oh, cool. Is it for one of your classes or something?”

Annabeth was a bit reluctant to answer. She felt like it was a bit silly that she felt an attachment to the book. It was one of the last possessions she had from during the time when things had last felt okay. It was just a dictionary, sure. To Annabeth though, it was a lot more than a dictionary textbook that she stole from the _Harvard_ library. 

When Annabeth thought back on it sometimes, she was impressed she managed to get away with it.

She knew that she couldn’t tell Percy the _full_ answer, though.

Before Annabeth was able to think of a response, Rachel Elizabeth Dare let out a long sigh. “This painting is frustrating me,” she groaned out. She threw her head back. “I hate landscapes.”

Percy turned his body around and placed his chin at the edge of her mattress. “Maybe we should go out into the courtyard. Grover mentioned something about how they had an event going on for freshmen. Plus,” Annabeth could _hear_ his grin, “I heard there was going to be _pizza_.”

Rachel hadn’t looked too interested until Percy said the word _pizza_ . Annabeth hadn’t been interested either. If she could avoid people altogether, she would have liked it to be that way. Annabeth Chase and people just didn’t get along. But, _pizza_? Pizza always changed the game for Annabeth, sadly. 

Rachel let out a loud _whoop_ and ruffled up Percy’s hair. “You know what that means,” Rachel said, gathering her brushes that she was using. “We are about to raid this bitch.” She stood up from her bed and smiled at Annabeth. “You’re coming, right Annie?”

The yellow paint stain that she had on her cheek was now accompanied by a new white paint splatter on her other cheek and a green paint smear on her chin. Even though she looked a bit messy, Annabeth couldn’t help but notice how _pretty_ she was. It wasn’t the kind of pretty that came from _Instagram_ models, it was the kind of pretty that was just so natural. Annabeth couldn’t help but feel a little jealous.

Annabeth wasn’t _pretty_ . At least, not that she was aware of. She never did her hair, her blonde hair was always in a ponytail and never brushed. Annabeth couldn’t do makeup for the life of her and the only clothes she ever felt comfortable wearing was a t-shirt and jeans. If she was feeling especially nice she’ll wear her jean jacket that had some pink colored cuffs and some pins of bands - which weren’t anything edgy - and movies/TV shows she liked. Annabeth was just… _there_.

Annabeth nodded her head, touching her hair, feeling self-conscious about her looks suddenly. She couldn’t let Rachel bring her down. Annabeth wasn’t here to get upset over her looks. She was here to grow more confident in herself, to not be so closed off. This was the _perfect_ opportunity. Annabeth forced those negative thoughts out of her mind and smiled at Rachel. “I’m going.”

* * *

The university courtyard was crowded with freshmen. Music was blasting, playing music from the _Billboard Top 100_ songs. Annabeth was able to recognize the catchy tunes easily, thanks to it being Piper’s typical music taste. Although it wasn’t the music that she was into herself. 

Annabeth was just polite enough to be able to respect what her best friend enjoyed listening to.

Annabeth walked behind Percy and Rachel, while Piper was looking around in wonder. She kept grabbing her best friend’s arm in excitement and pointing out whatever seemed to be catching her attention. There were a lot of school clubs that were advertising for freshmen to join. Piper was just about interested in _all_ of them. 

_“I need to expand my horizons this year,” Piper said as the two of the strolled through_ Target _together that summer. They were shopping for dorm decorations together. Although, the two of them would not be rooming together. “That’s what this year has to be about. Opening my eyes to the world.”_

_Annabeth had never seen Piper be so optimistic about anything in her life._

_“The world,” Piper continued, “is my oyster.”_

_She had said the words so dramatically it made Annabeth crack up._

“Oh,” Piper said, perking up at the sight of something, pulling Annabeth back to reality. “ _That_ is _my_ club.”

Annabeth followed Piper’s line of sight over to a booth where a group of people was seated. The poster they had advertising their club took Annabeth a little too long to decipher, but it said something along the lines of _Godly Fashion_. The people running the booth were the most beautiful people she had ever seen, all with bold fashion choices ranging from their hair to the makeup and clothes. Even their nails were making a statement. 

Annabeth knew that Piper was big into fashion. It was the reason she had chosen a fashion design major.

“That club looks scary,” Annabeth admitted. She paused. “So, it is _definitely_ your club.”

Piper elbowed Annabeth but was staring over at them in awe. “Think I should join?”

If Annabeth was being honest, Piper looked a lot more dressed _down_ compared to how the others were dressed. Despite that, Annabeth knew Piper could outshine those people even in a paper bag. Piper was just _that_ good.

“You should,” Annabeth said and smiled at her friend. “Knock their socks off.”

Piper nodded to Annabeth and smiled at her. “Wish me luck,” she said before heading over to the club booth. Annabeth hadn’t had time to tell her that she didn’t need it. 

As soon as Piper left her side, boredom overtook her. There was so much going around in the courtyard but Annabeth couldn’t really be bothered with it. None of the clubs were catching her eye or hooking her enough to join. The idea of having the socialize? _No, thank you_ . Annabeth knew she would have to, but maybe she could just meet people in the classes she was taking. Did it really _have_ to join a club to make friends? Plus, maybe Annabeth could make friends with whoever Piper became friends with. That’s how Annabeth has always done it before. 

Annabeth also met Percy Jackson today. That was enough socializing for the day, wasn't it?

At the moment, all Annabeth really had her mind on doing in the courtyard was getting a slice of pizza. Annabeth was able to spot students walking around and enjoying greasy slices of pizza on paper plates. She scanned her eyes around and saw the student union. People filing out with friends - probably their roommates - and pizza plates in their hands. 

With a target in mind, Annabeth headed in that direction. 

It didn’t take her five steps before Percy Jackson fell into step with her. 

“I see you’re a woman of taste,” he said with a grin. “You are a pizza lover, much like myself.”

Annabeth glanced at him, partially in amusement. She noticed that Rachel wasn’t accompanying him. When she glanced back she was able to spot the redhead at the art club booth. She was talking to a variety of kids who looked a lot like she looked, with paint colors staining their skin. Rachel had found her people, just like Piper had. For all Annabeth cared, Percy probably had found his people too. He had Rachel after all. 

What had Annabeth found? The location of where the pizza was being served.

“It’s kind of hard to hate pizza, isn’t it?” Annabeth replied. The two of them walked into the student union together. The doors were propped open, just outside was where the music was playing and Annabeth was forced to raise her voice for him to hear. “So, it’s not really “having taste”. It’s called being _human_.”

For whatever reason, that made Percy laugh. Annabeth wasn’t really sure why. It wasn’t funny nor was she _trying_ to be funny. She would take it though. Making a cute boy laugh was an A+ in her book. 

_He’s taken_ , Annabeth reminded herself harshly.

The two of them walked over to the table and set up with a lot of boxes of pizza from what seemed like a local pizzeria. Annabeth couldn’t help but commend the university for supporting local businesses. Though, if she had to take a guess it was probably a decision from the students themselves. 

College, according to what the Internet said, was all about the _students_ . The students took charge in college. With such an important change in their lives, they _deserved_ to be the voice of reason at the place they invested thousands of dollars into. How annoying would it be to spend so much money into a place that wouldn’t even bother listening to you?

Annabeth was pretty vocal when it came to what she believed in. When people didn’t listen to her, it was her biggest pet peeve. Luckily, college was _just_ the place that was going to be forced to listen to her. 

While in line, Percy tried, to no avail, to convince one of the faculty to give him an extra slice of pizza. Annabeth almost felt bad enough to give him her own but ultimately decided against it. 

Her _minor_ crush on him has yet to become so intense that Annabeth was willing to give up her pizza. She’d only just met him, it would’ve been concerning if her crush got _that_ intense. If she ever reached that point, Annabeth knew that she was in _big_ trouble. 

The afternoon August sun was hot on campus. It didn’t make it any better that there were so many students around the place so it just made it stuffy. Luckily, the pizza was enough to get someone’s mind off of that.

Annabeth walked along with Percy. Neither of them talked too much to each other, being preoccupied with their slices of pepperoni pizza. It was just the thing that Annabeth needed after the long drive from Annabeth’s home town to the university that would be housing her for the next four years. Though, she supposed it would all be worth it in the end. She would get her degree in urban design and make lots of memories with friends. Things would go just the way she wanted them to.

 _Hopefully_.

“So,” Percy said after a couple of minutes, stuffing the rest of the pizza crust in his mouth, “you gonna join any clubs?”

Annabeth tossed her plate away, not bothering to finish the crust herself. Piper always threw a fit whenever Annabeth didn’t eat the crust. It didn’t taste like _anything_. What was the point of eating something that didn’t have anything on it? 

“I’m thinking about it,” Annabeth said with a slight nod. If only she could find a club that looked _mildly_ interesting to her. Sure, there was a lot more variety considering it was college. Hell, Annabeth saw a _Dungeons and Dragons_ club that she thought would be fun to join but ultimately decided against it, despite her gut _pleading for her_ to go and do it. “I’m just… weighing my options.”

Percy didn’t respond for a three count. “That sounds like a load of bullshit,” Percy said. He looked over at Annabeth and the blonde eighteen year old felt her cheeks flare with color. “You know you can join more than one club, right? It’s not illegal. As long as you can manage your time and you seem like the kind of person who manages their time pretty damn well.”

Annabeth wanted to point out that the only way he knows that was because he saw Annabeth looking through her personal planner when her father had left, but Annabeth didn’t say anything because he was right about how it all was bullshit. Of course, Annabeth would have joined more than one club if she wanted to. The problem was, she didn’t even want to join _one_ club. All of the people milling around were making her nervous. Some even tried to make eye contact with her and offer her a polite smile. People were trying to just be nice and she _couldn’t_ do it in return.

“There’s just…” Annabeth let out a frustrated exhale. She wasn’t sure how to phrase it without feeling like Percy was going to judge her. She knew that having social anxiety was a normal thing. The only reason Annabeth had some friends was thanks to Piper who _forced_ Annabeth to be social and Annabeth’s oldest friend Thalia who went out of her way to always make Annabeth form relationships so she wouldn’t be stuck at home all day.

Percy said, “There’s just… what?”

Annabeth glanced around. Their walking had slowed down. Percy’s hands were shoved into his pockets and he was looking at Annabeth with a curious look like he was just genuinely interested in what she had to say.

“There’s just too many people,” Annabeth admitted, dejectedly. 

Annabeth felt like an idiot admitting that, but she wasn’t sure how else she could fess up to her fears. The fear was the _people_ . She and Piper had different interests. They couldn’t join the same clubs, they roomed separately so that they could each expand their horizons individually. Annabeth was alone on this adventure and she _didn’t like it_.

“Well, there’s always going to be people wherever you go,” Percy said. The two of them made it to the edge of the courtyard. The only students at the edge of the courtyard were those who were lying under trees and smoking what smelled like weed. Annabeth was also able to make out what looked like vapes. Percy sat at an old worn wooden bench and Annabeth sat beside him.

Percy continued. “Is that the _only_ reason you don’t want to join a club?”

Annabeth was reluctant to answer. Her gray eyes scanned the courtyard. She was able to see the students milling around. It had been labeled as a freshmen welcome wagon sort of event, Annabeth was able to recognize that students that weren’t just freshmen also joined the crowd. Wanting to join clubs or just wanting to steal a slice of pizza. No one was alone though, the people who were alone eventually ended up talking to someone. 

“It isn’t that I _don’t_ want to join a club,” Annabeth said eventually. Her hands gripped her knees, digging her nails into the skin but not enough to do her any harm “I just feel like if I join one, maybe I won’t like it. Or maybe I won’t make any friends. I have _one_ friend, Piper. And she’s good at making friends. I mean, look at her.” 

From where they were sitting, Annabeth was able to see the booth for _Godly Fashion_ where Piper was talking to the people at the booth. She seemed to be talking to a tall guy who was wearing a black leather skirt and black turtleneck. The all-black look was really going for him but Piper, in her faded converse, ripped jeans and self-cut “I <3 NY” crop t-shirt, seemed to be giving him some fashion advice. To a guy, that she didn’t even _know_. 

“She’s kind of been my outlet to making new friends,” Annabeth found herself rambling to Percy. She didn’t mean to lay it all on him but no one else had ever really seemed like they were willing to listen to Annabeth about this in the past. Not even _herself_ . “I applied to college outside of where I’m from hoping to make new friends and start a new chapter of my life where I’m not afraid. I met Rachel and she was great. I felt like things were going to be okay. I’m here now though and I just… I feel…” Annabeth couldn’t even finish the sentence. Her hands fell limp for a moment and she exhaled through her nose. “I feel _scared_.”

Percy didn’t respond for a long minute. He wasn’t looking at her and instead, his green eyes seemed to just be scanning the crowd. His eyes would flicker to a new part of the crowd every couple of seconds, like something new, just continued to catch his eye.

When Annabeth thought he wasn’t going to say anything and just leave the conversation at that, Percy spoke up. “You can never get over that fear unless you face it, you know.” He slouched back against the bench and rested his ankle against his knee, sitting in that “man-spread” sort of stance, though, he seemed to be conscious to not invade Annabeth’s space. “My best friend, Grover? My roommate? He was like that when we first met each other in middle school. He hated the idea of coming out of his comfort zone but I helped him grow. Now he’s here and he already is making friends faster than I expected him to. It didn’t happen from one day to the next. Change can’t happen overnight, Annabeth. You have to work towards it. I can tell you want to become that best version of yourself but it’s going to be a lot of work. Planning that change is just the first step. You just have to take it all one day at a time.”

Annabeth found herself at a loss for words. 

Considering how fast life was moving after her graduation, Annabeth had honestly thought that she would change quickly. Sure, she knew that deep down that she could never change so fast. She couldn’t turn from an introvert to an extrovert at the snap of her fingers. What was she expecting? Annabeth didn’t really like admitting that other people were right. Annabeth usually liked to be the one that was the _most_ right in any given situation.

Then there was Percy, speaking some truth that Annabeth needed to hear.

“You’re right,” Annabeth admitted begrudgingly. “It is going to be a lot of work. I just don’t want to go through all that work.”

“Of course I’m right.” Percy grinned over at Annabeth and she gave him a look which only made his grin widen. Annabeth had to bite the inside of her cheek to restrain herself from smiling too. 

_That fucking grin..._

Annabeth looked away from him. She was able to spot Piper still talking to those people at _Godly Fashion_ and Rachel, who was now done with her conversation with the booth for the art club, was looking around in search for, what seemed like, Percy. At the sight of her, Annabeth was starting to have second thoughts.

Annabeth didn’t _have_ to join a club to become social. Take it one day at a time, right?

“Well…” Annabeth said after a moment, ”I _was_ kinda telling the truth about how I don’t know what club to join. There are way too many.” Annabeth considered it before saying. “Maybe I should just let myself get settled in and _next_ semester I’ll join a club.”

Percy let out a laugh. “Nuh-uh, not happening.” He was looking out at the crowd of people. Whether he noticed his girlfriend looking for him, he didn’t let it show. “How about I make you deal?”

Annabeth knit her eyebrows together. “Depends. What kind of deal are we talking about?” 

Percy sat up straight on the bench and let his foot drop to the ground. “Choose a club to join. _Any_ that strikes your fancy and I will join it with you.” He looked confident while saying that. Annabeth stared at him a bit dumbfounded.

“Really?”

“Yep.” Percy shrugged. “Not like I was really planning to join a club myself. I don’t really make friends or go searching. Instead, I let people find me. Like you, you found me. So, pick any club.”

Rachel seemed to finally spot the two friends that were sitting together and she smiled, jogging over. Their moment alone together was no more. Annabeth found herself worried if Percy was going to tell Rachel about everything she fessed up to, not that it was anything bad. Annabeth just didn’t want Rachel to be looking at her any differently.

She had a feeling that Percy wasn’t that kind of person, though.

“Hey,” Rachel greeted, sitting beside her boyfriend and planting a kiss on his cheek. “I just got acquainted with the art club. They said they liked my hair.”

Percy laughed. “That’s always a plus.”

Rachel smiled then looked over at Annabeth. Her cheeks were rosy with color and she just seemed really happy. It was clear her conversation with the art club went a lot better then she was letting on. Rachel didn’t seem like the type to boast about her accomplishments. “So,” she said happily, “what were you guys talking about?”

Before Annabeth could respond, Percy was quick to say, “Annabeth and I are going to join a club together.” He smiled at the blonde girl.

Rachel raised her eyebrows, looking mildly amused. “Oh? I thought you said, and I quote, ‘clubs are for people who don’t know what real fun is’.”

Even Annabeth had to raise an eyebrow at that statement. 

Percy raised his hands in defense. “I’m a changed man now.”

“You had said that this morning, Perce.”

Percy clamped a hand over her mouth. “ _Anyway_ ,” Percy continued, “Annabeth is able to choose from any club that she wants and I told her that I would join in with her since I have nothing better to do.” 

Annabeth was grateful that he didn’t say that he was joining it so Annabeth wouldn’t be alone. That would have embarrassed her and Annabeth would have never been able to face Rachel for that. Annabeth was seriously relying on her roommate’s _boyfriend_ to get her through the school year.

Rachel forced his hand down with a pout.

Percy tilted his head. “I would be wary of joining the cooking club, actually. I would still join it, but expect a fire at least one time this semester.” He looked serious about this statement. His smile even faded just for a moment as if he were pondering the thought of how exactly he would have burned the cooking club to a crisp.

“Alright. Cooking club is out of the question.” Annabeth nodded her head once, mentally scratching off the cooking club as a definitive _no_.

“Could’ve been fun.”

“Not for the cooking club,” Annabeth said, her eyes scanning the booths that were visible to her, “or the fire department.”

At the corner of Annabeth’s eye, she could see his grin return and an arm wrapping around Rachel’s shoulders. She felt a ping of something in her gut but she ignored it. “ _Hey_. I’m here to make everyone’s day a little more exciting.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes, biting back a smile. She slowly, she stood up to her feet, standing on her tiptoes in search of a club that could peak not only her interest but Percy’s as well. Problem was, Annabeth didn’t really know much about Percy to narrow down what he could be into. If cooking was out of the question, what else could he _not_ do?

Annabeth sported one club. It was a club she had wanted to join in high school but never did out of the same fears she was facing today. Not to mention, most teenagers had the same interests but Annabeth’s mind was a bit more mature. 

_“So,” Piper said when Annabeth didn’t join the club in high school, “what you’re saying is that you’re not like other girls?”_

_“Fuck you.”_

Annabeth pointed to the booth. One person was sitting at it. “That one.”

Percy’s eyes followed where Annabeth’s finger was pointing and he squinted. He seemed to see the booth and was trying to decipher what the poster said. Annabeth noticed Rachel lean close to his ear and mumble something to him and he nodded. 

“The Book Club,” he said. His smile faded ever so slightly and Annabeth noticed there was a troubled look in his eyes but was quickly replaced with a determined look and he smiled at Annabeth. That contagious smile Annabeth couldn’t help but already not be able to get enough of. 

It made her smile. 

He said, “Let’s do it.”

Maybe this year won’t be so bad after all.


	3. The Lucky Kit-Kat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> I know I've been gone way longer than I should've been for this fic. Sometimes I have trouble bringing myself to write even if I like the story I'm writing. My mental health just doesn't allow me to be happy in creating things I love sometimes. I want to continue this story, though! I'm glad to be back. I'll keep updating as often as I can bring myself to! I hope you guys come to keep reading and enjoy the story!

Creating schedules was Annabeth’s thing.

It was something that she enjoyed doing in her spare time. At the beginning of each week, she wrote out an outline for how her days would be spent. Monday through Thursday, Annabeth would be packed with two classes each day. One class would also be preoccupying her on Friday. She was the kind of person that needed to know about events at _least_ three days in advance so she could rearrange her schedule if needed. She hated last-minute plans, they drove her _insane_.

There was just something about knowing what was going to be coming at every hour of every day that eased any stress that she was feeling. Anything Annabeth had to deal with was in her schedule. It was Annabeth’s way to ground herself. 

For example, on Monday morning she knew that she would have time to go for a morning run, get back in time to shower and change then grab breakfast in the cafeteria before her ten A.M. class. 

On the Monday morning of Annabeth’s first day of class, her alarm went off at exactly five o’clock in the morning. Although Annabeth's class wouldn’t start until ten, it gave her just enough time to go out for a quick run at the campus track. As she was getting into her running pants and t-shirt, Rachel Elizabeth Dare mumbled something sleepily but stayed asleep. Annabeth knew that she would have about an hour to run, followed by another hour and a half to get ready. Then she would snatch some breakfast at the cafeteria before just getting to class on time.

It was planned perfectly.

She liked that it was planned perfectly.

There weren't too many people on the track, which Annabeth liked. She was able to connect her headphones to her phone and set them in. As she ran a curated workout playlist was her background music. It wasn’t anything special, just some instrumental music that Annabeth enjoyed hearing that she didn’t have to focus too hard on. She preferred listening to that kind of music when running because if she heard, let’s say, Carrie Underwood singing _Before he Cheats_ , the urge for Annabeth to start singing was too strong. Not that she would do it, but it was just better to hear instrumental music.

Annabeth had been in one extracurricular activity in high school, cross country. It was mainly due to the fact that Annabeth didn’t want to take physical education which was always a slack off class. Annabeth always liked taking classes that would challenge her and running _really_ tested her endurance capabilities.

Even out of high school, she liked to keep up with it. It wasn’t like it was going to hurt her. She just liked having _something_ from her old life part of her routine.

Annabeth hadn’t been friends with anyone in her cross country elective, people just knew her enough to say hi. The only friends Annabeth had when she was in high school were Thalia, who was out of high school and always off probably protesting for human rights, Luke, who was always doing something that was beyond Annabeth’s knowledge, and Piper. She had a few other friends but none of them were close enough with her that she ever spoke to them outside of class. Piper was practically friends with their entire class. She had _Snapchat_ streaks with almost everyone in their grade. She seriously had no idea how Piper even did it.

Piper _still_ has those Snapchat streaks. Piper once tried to get Annabeth to have one with her but Annabeth failed miserably at that on the first day when she couldn’t get the perfect picture to send back. So, Piper and she just let it go.

By the time Annabeth got back to the dorm room, Rachel was already awake and dressing, her red hair tied up back in a bandana. Annabeth noticed how tired she still looked, which wasn’t all that surprising because she was pretty sure Rachel had stayed up until the late hours of the night. Annabeth had gotten up to pee at around three in the morning and Rachel had been awake doing digital art on her laptop.

Rachel grinned at Annabeth sleepily as she sat back in her bed. “I’ll wait up for you,” she said, a yawn escaping her lips. “Then we can grab some breakfast together.” 

Annabeth gave her a silent thumbs-up as she grabbed her clothes to go and shower. Annabeth was able to do so quickly, stepping out of the shower smelling like lemons. While Annabeth wasn’t the biggest fan of a lemon scent, she did appreciate the work that a lemon scent did: repelling spiders. For some reason wherever Annabeth went there is always at least one spider lurking. She couldn’t risk it. 

By the time Annabeth made it back to the dorm room, Rachel had fallen asleep on her bed again and Annabeth was forced to shake her awake. It’d taken some effort from Annabeth’s side and a lot of pulling to get Rachel up and awake, walking out the door sleepily. Part of Annabeth didn’t like that she had to do that, she felt like her whole schedule had gone off course but it was a five-minute delay, it wasn’t so bad. 

When the two of them emerged from their dorm building, backpacks slung over their shoulders, Annabeth was surprised to see Percy Jackson waiting outside for the two of them. Well, for Rachel, but Annabeth liked to think he was also waiting around for her. 

Annabeth mentally redacted that statement. He’s _taken._ S he needed to stop thinking about him in that way. It had not even been a day since she'd met this boy. It wasn’t that she was head over heels for him either. Annabeth just thought that he looked attractive. _Very_ attractive.

Where did Rachel _find_ someone like this? 

“Morning,” Percy greeted. He didn’t look much better than his girlfriend did. He looked like he had literally _rolled_ out of bed. His hair was hastily done and his t-shirt was wrinkled to the point of no return. Annabeth almost even offered to go upstairs to their dorm and iron it herself but she restrained herself.

Rachel greeted him with a kiss on the cheek causing Annabeth to look away at a bird that was taking a measly stroll on the pavement. 

The three of them headed for the cafeteria together. Since it was early in the morning, the campus was fairly quiet. Only a few students were lingering around and going to buildings for their classes. No one liked taking morning classes in college, according to the forums that Annabeth had read through when she had been debating on her schedule. Annabeth had almost decided against having any morning classes but eventually chose to. It couldn’t hurt her. She didn’t just go to school for over a decade to wuss out on taking morning classes in college.

Annabeth usually would have spent her mornings with Piper, but she knew that Piper’s school day wasn’t going to start until eleven. Piper had opted for finally living the life that she wanted to live which consisted of not waking up before ten. Annabeth could see the appeal but then again, she wasn’t Piper. Annabeth liked having a full-day schedule.

The cafeteria was fairly empty. It was a lot bigger than any cafeteria that Annabeth had ever seen before. It was an impressive two stories tall. The food also smelled better than anything that the education system had given her in all the years she had been in public school. Percy and Rachel led the way over for them to the line. Annabeth ended up stacking a lot of food onto her plate, needing to fuel up before class to get her through the day. In the same way that people needed coffee to function for the day, Annabeth needed breakfast. 

She also needed coffee, which she was able to purchase as well.

The three of them managed to find a table that would sit the three of them and they all started to eat their breakfast. Percy and Rachel asked each other how their nights went absently. Percy admitted that he knocked out at around ten while Rachel said she was up until three in the morning. Percy looked as if he was about to chastise her about doing such a thing but thought against it. Clearly Rachel had done this before more than once.

Percy then turned his attention to Annabeth and he smiled at her sleepily. “What about you?” he asked, stuffing a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth. 

Annabeth had been taking a sip of her coffee, which was decaf, and she eyed him warily. “What about me?”

“How’d your night go?” he swallowed before continuing. “Did you sleep alright? Since it was the first day in the dorms and all. Rachel didn’t keep you up?” He shot his girlfriend an accusatory look to which Rachel responded with a scoff. 

“At least I don’t _snore,''_ Rachel shot back with a small grin and a roll of her eyes.

Annabeth couldn’t help but laugh. “No, she didn’t keep me up.” Annabeth smiled at Rachel. “What were you working on anyway?”

Rachel seemed to light up at that question. “Oh! I was practicing some digital art. I kind of suck at it. I’m more into traditional art. I was trying to finish up this one piece. It’s of this dude right here.” She pointed at Percy.

Percy just shrugged. “She likes drawing me.”

Rachel gave Annabeth a look that said something along the lines of: _can you believe this guy?_ “Percy has this oddly symmetrical face. Everything about it is perfectly shaped. His jawline could literally cut diamonds.” Rachel lifted her hands and created a square using her index finger and thumbs, capturing Percy’s face in the middle like he was a work of art. Which, to be fair, he did seem like he was. “Beautiful,” Rachel complimented and grinned.

Percy smiled but he seemed a bit shy at the compliment and he shook his head. “You’re overdoing it again, Rach.”

Rachel lowered her hands. “Trust me. Your existence is overdoing it.” She paused for a moment and seemed to think over her words. “But in a good way.”

Annabeth personally thought that Rachel was only offering an understatement, but even she couldn’t really find the words. Rachel was right though on one thing, Percy was really breathtakingly beautiful.

Rachel finished her breakfast fairly quickly compared to Percy and Annabeth. Annabeth was still trying to finish up her coffee when Rachel said that she was going to start heading to class. She wanted to talk to her art teacher about something. She gave Percy a quick peck on the cheek before she rushed off to class leaving Percy and Annabeth.

_Alone_.

The two of them shared a smile with one another. 

Percy yawned, still clearly very tired, even though it was clear that he had gotten a full eight hours of sleep.

“You seem tired,” Annabeth commented. She thought maybe some light conversation could help. She needed to practice anyway, she was going to most likely have to talk to people in her upcoming class. If Annabeth really wanted to open herself up more she needed all the practice that she can get.

Lucky for her, Percy was big on talking. “Yeah,” he said as he was finishing. “I don’t get a lot of sleep at night.”

Annabeth cocked her head looking at him. “You told Rachel that you passed out at ten.”

Percy gave her a wry smile. “I just don’t want her to worry.” He went ahead and pushed his plate away from him then rested his elbows on the table looking at Annabeth. Annabeth’s eyes lingered on his. They were pretty. 

“I have really… bad dreams at night,” Percy admitted with a small shrug. “It’s kind of dumb but it makes it hard to sleep.”

“Like… night terrors?” Annabeth looked at him quietly. She wondered why he was sharing this information with her, it wasn’t like he knew her well enough to be sharing that information but here he was offering it to her. He trusted her. For what reason?

“Sometimes,” Percy said with a slight nod. “Or sleep paralysis.”

Annabeth had never had sleep paralysis, but she had heard stories of people who went through that and the fear that they went through. She had the urge to reach out and touch his hand but she held back. It wasn’t her place to offer comfort. Or was it?

“I’m-” Annabeth started but Percy cut her off.

“Don’t say you're sorry,” he said, putting his grin back on like nothing was wrong. “You didn’t cause the problem.”

“But,” Annabeth said, pressing the palms of her hands against her legs, “I can still say sorry. No one deserves sleepless nights.”

Percy just shrugged like it didn’t bother him. He tapped the screen of his cellphone, lighting it up and he looked back at Annabeth. “You should head to class. It’s almost ten.”

Annabeth’s eyes flicked to his screen where she can see his wallpaper was of some band logo. Led Zeppelin. She also noticed he was right and that she had about fifteen minutes to get to class. She had wanted to get there early and hopefully get a good seat before they were all taken.

“Oh.” Had time really gone by that quickly? Maybe if Annabeth were lucky, then the class would go by just as quickly. She started to gather her stuff and Percy did the same. “I guess I’ll get going then.”

Percy nodded and he held up a hand before Annabeth could head to class. “Wait! I wanted to give you something!” He started looking in his bag for something, leaving Annabeth to watch him curiously. She wasn’t sure what exactly Percy would want to give her or why he would have anything for her. It was their first day of classes and they barely knew each other for a day. _Less_ than a day to be exact.

Percy pulled out a _Kit-Kat_ and handed it over to her smiling. “I got this for you at the vending machine last night when I couldn’t sleep.”

Annabeth stared at it for a moment before she gently took it in her hands. “A chocolate bar?” she asked. She couldn’t help the confusion in her voice. 

“A _Kit-Kat_ ,” Percy corrected. “I know you said you get nervous when there’s a lot of people. Whenever I get nervous about anything I eat a _Kit-Kat_. It gives me something to focus on instead of whatever else is making me feel anxious.”

Annabeth stared at the candy bar in her hand before she slipped it in her bag and smiled at Percy, her heart twisted in her chest, but she wasn’t sure how to pinpoint the emotion that came along with it. “Thanks, Percy,” she said softly, her cheeks heating up. Before he could take notice, she turned on her heel and walked out of the cafeteria.

* * *

The very first class Annabeth had that morning was a class she had been looking forward to since she signed up. She doubted that the class would teach her anything new that she didn’t already know since she had been studying the subjects since she knew that she wanted to study architecture, she was still excited about the course. If she was taking the course that meant that she was going to be surrounded by people who were just as interested in this field as she was.

Upon entering Introduction to Architecture, Annabeth wasn’t all that surprised to see that the majority of people in the class were boys. She was only able to spot two girls who looked more tired than they were ready to learn. Annabeth figured that they were probably up partying late. According to Rachel, a lot of the frat and sorority houses were throwing welcoming parties. Rachel was debating on attending one but Percy convinced her to go to her dorm instead.

“You don’t want to be hungover on your first day do you?”

Rachel didn’t seem like the kind of person to care or not how her first day of classes was going to go but to appease her boyfriend she went ahead and stayed in her dorm Annabeth didn’t need Percy’s smooth words to convince her to stay in - but she did appreciate the idea of it.

Their professor, Mr. Brunner, still hadn’t arrived in class. Annabeth’s eyes scanned the room and noticed one seat was still open in the front of the class for her to take so she easily slid herself into that seat. It was at the end of the row, so the only neighbor she had was a boy who was messing with _something_ in his hands. There were a couple of rubber bands on his desk and Annabeth decided she didn’t want to know.

Annabeth let out a soft breath from her lips and went ahead and reached into her bag for the brand new notebook she had stuffed into her bag the night before in preparation. She kept glancing at the boy curiously. 

Before she had walked into the class, Annabeth had the confidence to talk to people, people who had the same interest as she did, but suddenly the courage to do that was gone. It was almost as soon as she stepped through the door she had stepped through a portal and caved into her old self again. She hated herself for being this way, but how could she help it.

_Well_ , a voice in Annabeth’s head suggested, _you could force yourself to talk to him_.

Oh, how Annabeth hated that little voice in her head.

She pulled out her pencil pouch and zipped it open and pulled out her pen. She couldn’t do it. The jitters were going to eat her alive. 

A thought occurred to Annabeth when she was about to give up on that idea and she glanced down at her bag which was resting against the legs of her chair. She reached down and pulled out the _Kit-Kat_ bar that Percy had given her and considered his gift for a moment. It was still morning and sugar wasn’t the best thing to have early in the mornings but maybe this could help her calm her anxiety. As stupid as it sounded.

She tore open the wrapper and cracked off a thin bar and took a bite from it. She focused on the sweetness of the chocolate and she couldn't help but let a smile spread over her lips. She hadn’t had one of these in a while. There was something satisfying about it.

At the corner of her eye, she saw something fly off of the desk of the boy who sat beside her. When she turned her head she saw it was a miniature helicopter. It flew up and forward - _somehow_ before plummeting after a good ten seconds.

_Woah._

Annabeth noticed a few people were staring over at the object curiously, their eyebrows scrunched together. None of them seemed to realize that the boy had done that, created something out of… _something,_ and made it fly.

Hell, maybe there was something to learn from this class after all.

Before Annabeth could lose the courage, she swallowed the piece of chocolate that she had been chewing and turned her body to the boy sitting beside her.

“Hey,” Annabeth said, “I’m Annabeth.”

The boy didn’t seem to notice her at first but he slowly turned his head from the helicopter laying on the ground and looked at her. He had elfish features, and his dark hair was a curly mess on his head. It looked as if he had tried to smooth it with some hair gel but it was still sticking up to no avail.

“Hey,” the kid greeted with a goofy grin. He looked around Annabeth’s age - possibly. He was here so he must’ve been. He did look a bit younger though, maybe sixteen. “I’m Leo.”

Annabeth took another bite of the chocolate and pointed to the copter. “You made that?”

He stood from his desk and walked over to fetch it. “Yeah! Pretty cool, right?”

Annabeth just nodded her head.

“I think I could have done the design better but,” Leo shrugged sitting back at his desk, “I had to work with what I had. The rubber bands definitely helped it though. Last time I made one of these I didn’t get to use rubber bands and that thing pretty much plummeted down the Grand Canyon.” He whistled and twirled his finger in the air to show how the copter fell before making a _plah_ type of sound. He shook his head sadly. “It was a sad day. Luckily I remembered how to make it though! So, there is good news in that.”

He hadn’t given Annabeth a chance to find words to respond when their instructor came in. He was a middle-aged man in a wheelchair. He looked like the typical kind of professor you would expect in a college. He had the full beard, the long hair and tweed jacket. At the sight of him, Annabeth couldn’t help but feel her excitement start to bubble up in her chest again.

“Good morning everyone,” he said, rolling over to his desk.

A scatter of good mornings rolled throughout the classroom from the other students.

Mr. Brunner didn’t say anything as he got himself situated at the front of the room. He rested his hands in his lap and looked through all the students and he smiled. “You all look very happy to be here. I’m assuming you all rested well?”

“There was a party in my dorm room,” Leo blurted out. “So, no.”

That earned a couple of laughs. 

“I heard,” Mr. Brunner said with a chuckle. “Well, welcome to introduction to architecture. My name is Mr. Brunner. Today I will be going over the syllabus. It will be a fairly easy day, no stressful assignments due just yet.” He turned to the desk and began to turn on the projection to introduce the class to the syllabus.

Leo looked over at Annabeth eyes wide. He mouthed, _Yet?_

Annabeth grinned as she went ahead to finish off the rest of her candy as Mr. Brunner started the presentation.

Mr. Brunner didn’t go into too much detail over the syllabus. The syllabus was online if anyone wanted to see it for themselves but Mr. Brunner wanted to go over just the important points within it and answer any questions a student might have. 

The class was supposed to go on for an hour and fifteen minutes since they met only twice a week. Mr. Brunner finished up going over the syllabus within twenty minutes. Annabeth had a feeling during the remainder of the time he was going to want everyone else to introduce themselves to the rest of the class which was something Annabeth was _not_ a fan of. She had Leo. She would stick to Leo for any partner assignments.

Mr. Brunner seemed to notice how quickly he went through it. He said, “I know introductions in a classroom setting are common. I also know many students don’t like the idea of standing up in front of others to introduce themselves so I will spare you all of doing that. I do want to get to know you all, however. So, I want everyone to start their first assignment - it is _not_ for a grade. That was a joke.” 

That earned a couple of chuckles from the around the room including Annabeth. 

“Everyone pull out a piece of paper and I want you each to write your name, major, and a goal you have for this semester. Once you finish you are free to go.”

Everyone in the class got excited at the prospect of being able to leave class early for the day and got to work on their assignment. Annabeth, having her notebook out on her desk already, just stared at the blank page as she slowly lifted her pen. She went ahead and wrote the first two down.

_Name: Annabeth Chase_

_Major: Architecture_

_Goals for this semester:_

Annabeth stared at the paper for a long moment. Did she want to be so brutally honest about her goals? Mr. Brunner didn’t need to know about the personal goal she had set out for herself. All most teachers wanted to hear whenever they asked what a student wanted to accomplish in the school year was “ _I want to get all A’s and further my education within [insert subject]”_.

Annabeth tapped her pen against the paper and watched as students started turning in their assignments and leaving for the day.

Maybe if she wrote out that personal goal though, she could manifest it into reality. It wasn’t like Mr. Brunner was _actually_ going to read these and memorize them.

Annabeth wrote:

_Goals for this semester:_

_Learn how to actually have fun and not overwork._

_Join a club._

Make new friends and not be such an introvert.

Annabeth stood up at the same time that Leo did and they both turned in their assignments. Once Annabeth exited the class she felt the weight fall off her shoulders. It was written out into the world now. It was going to happen. This year was going to be a good year. She was going to make it a good year.

“See ya, Annabeth!” Leo called as he walked off in the opposite direction.

Annabeth flinched at the sound of her name and turned just in time to wave before Leo was out of sight. Annabeth walked out of the building and sighed softly.

It wasn’t going to be easy, that’s why it was a work in progress.


	4. Challenge Accepted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rip i know it has been almost six months but please dont kill me??  
> writing is just one of those things that is hard to do sometimes. hopefully i can update more frequently but based on how long this took me i cant make promises. but i hope u guys enjoyed this chapter ily and thank you for reading!

High school teachers are _liars_.

Well, not _liars_ . They certainly exaggerate the truth, though. Throughout Annabeth’s first week at college, she was greeted with instructors that were either oddly nice and wanted to get the class over with or were oddly preppy for their classes. In high school, most teachers always told their students that they need to grow up because “ _college professors won’t tolerate that kind of behavior_ ”. That was a load of bullshit because college professors did not seem to care.

There was a class Annabeth had where the teacher said he didn’t care if the students attended class but just make sure you came on the days when exams were (which were scheduled on the syllabus). So, that left only Annabeth and a handful of students who actually attended whenever class was scheduled. 

It was a really different experience compared to high school but Annabeth liked the change. 

Over the past week, Annabeth had begun to develop a routine. She would wake up early in the morning to go for a run, have breakfast with Rachel, Percy and Piper (depending if she was in the mood to wake up early), attend classes then her afternoons were filled with studying either at the library or in her dorm room. 

The locations of Annabeth’s study sessions usually depended on whether or not Rachel and Percy were hanging out together. Most days, they were and Annabeth didn’t want to interrupt them if they were doing anything remotely… _coupley_. Annabeth was sure she wasn’t going to be able and stand if she did see anything because the sight of Percy, even after a week of more or less getting used to him being around Rachel, made her brain short circuit. Not to mention that the last thing Annabeth wanted to do was be in her dorm with Percy present and Rachel saw her get flustered. Rachel must have known that Percy was ridiculously attractive to probably anyone who glanced at him but Annabeth liked her and Rachel’s friendship. Not everyone got along with their roommate and Annabeth wanted to cherish the fact that she did.

Plus, Rachel was still her only friend.

Other than Leo Valdez, who was the person she usually spent her days at the library with if she didn’t go to her dorm to study.

Annabeth and Leo weren’t in the same major, but their majors were pretty similar to one another's and they, unsurprisingly, ended up in most of the same classes, especially since they were freshman.

Although Leo was the exact opposite of Annabeth, she liked hanging around him. He had some cheesy jokes that would make Annabeth roll her eyes for sure, but his jokes got a chuckle out of her most of the time. Not to mention, the guy was wicked smart. It was almost intimidating to Annabeth. 

“I’m just saying,” Leo said as the two of them walked out of the library together, “if you can draw buildings doesn’t that mean you can draw other stuff? I’ll pay you.”

It was Friday afternoon and it was a rather cool day outside. Annabeth tugged the cardigan she was wearing tighter around her shoulders. “People are a lot different than buildings, Valdez.” Leo groaned and made Annabeth grin. “You can still pay me if you want,” she offered, “I’m always looking for cash.”

Leo laughed. “Nice try, Chase. The quarter is all mine.”

Annabeth scoffed. “You thought my supposed talent was worth a quarter?”

“What did you expect from me?” Leo asked looking at Annabeth incredulously. “I just have some change from when I bought a _Honey Bun_ earlier. So, a quarter is what I have to offer.”

Annabeth shot him a look as they made their way across the quad. 

Leo held up his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine. I also have a dime.”

Annabeth covered her mouth, a small laugh escaping her lips. She couldn’t help it, Leo may talk a lot, but it wouldn’t have been Leo otherwise. 

The two of them kept walking to where the dorms were, they lived in the same building, but Leo lived a few floors below where her floor was. Annabeth was glad for that because most of the time she always had someone who would either walk her from class to the dorms or she had Piper or Rachel who walked with her out. 

Even though Annabeth usually liked being isolated, she was learning more and more this week how much she liked being around people. Sure, she needed the occasional break once in a while but she was taking baby steps.

The two of them arrived at the dorms and waved at each other as they walked in opposite directions and Annabeth headed up. She paused at her dorm room and leaned close, trying to hear if there were any voices and concluded Rachel was alone, hearing the muffled sound of jazz music playing. Annabeth walked in and was instantly hit with the smell of paint. 

Rachel stood by the window of the dorm, her easel set up with a half painted canvas sitting on it. 

Rachel looked up from the canvas and grinned at Annabeth. “Hey bestie,” she greeted jokingly. Her frizzy red hair was wrapped up in a green bandana, streaks and small splatters of paint scattered across her clothes and skin. 

Annabeth smiled at Rachel in return. “Hey,” she replied, dropping her backpack onto her bed. “What’re you painting?”

Rachel placed the handle of her brush between her teeth and gestured for Annabeth to come over, which she did without question. When she got closer, she started noticing the finer details of the piece that she had been working on. It was another landscape piece but of a garden. 

“Oh,” Annabeth mumbled under her breath, standing beside Rachel, “wow.”

Annabeth had never really had an appreciation for art before she met Rachel. It wasn’t something that she cared to give too much attention towards but Rachel was talented and Annabeth was learning to appreciate art, even if it was just Rachel’s.

Rachel took the brush out of her mouth. “I gotta finish this by six,” she said. “Which is gonna bite me in the ass later because it will definitely not be dry by then.”

Annabeth thought about it. “You can borrow my hairdryer?” she offered, knowing Rachel didn’t own one. There wasn’t a reason for her to either with her curly hair just being able to do _that_ on its own.

“I hope you know that I am in love with you,” Rachel said, continuing to paint. 

Annabeth just smiled and let Rachel continue to paint, walking back to her bed. Thanks to Annabeth having gotten all her work done the day that it was assigned, she had nothing to do. She considered calling Piper, to see if she was busy, but Annabeth had a feeling that Piper was probably spending her time with her roommate who she seemed to be getting along with great. Annabeth knew that if she did call up Piper, Piper wouldn’t mind at all that Annabeth wanted to hang out. Her roommate probably wouldn’t have minded either, but lately, Annabeth had been feeling like she had been dragging Piper down all of these years. 

Everywhere Piper went, she called Annabeth to see if she wanted to hang out. While it wasn’t a bad thing that Piper did that, sometimes it made Annabeth wonder if she was just doing it because she felt _bad_ that Annabeth didn’t like hanging out with other people. This week, Piper hadn’t actually asked Annabeth if she wanted to hang out. Sure, they saw each other sometimes after class and before class but they hadn’t hung out at places like they did during the summer and when they were in high school. Did Piper feel like she was relieved from her duties as Annabeth’s babysitter?

Annabeth let out a quiet breath and sat down on her bed, grabbing her laptop out of her backpack. She wasn’t going to think about it. 

The last thing Annabeth wanted to do was to feel sorry for herself. This was a new year, a new time in Annabeth’s life. There was no room to feel sorry for herself.

Instead, Annabeth did what she did best. She designed.

Design was a bit of an overstatement.

Annabeth sat back in her bed as she booted up the _Sims 4_. Annabeth didn’t really enjoy any of the gameplay that the game had to offer, instead, she always found herself to be enjoying the building game mechanics. It was one of Annabeth’s stress relievers. It was the game that got her through high school and the game that still made her want to pursue being an architect. 

Annabeth found herself getting lost in the game. She hadn’t realized how long had passed, possible hours since she had gotten back to the dorm at one o’clock. Rachel had been hard at work, using Annabeth’s hair dryer now and then when she had to dry a part of the canvas.

The house that she had been designing was a bit on the modern side. Annabeth typically wasn’t one to do modern houses, but once in a while she liked the change in pace. 

At the corner of her eye, she saw Rachel pick up her phone after it rang twice with a text. She held the hair dryer in one hand and her phone in the other as she read whatever text message she had just received. 

“Percy’s outside,” Rachel said. She tossed her phone back onto her desk where it clattered twice before landing.

At first, Annabeth wasn’t sure what she was talking about. Why did Annabeth need to know that information? Was Rachel signaling for her to leave the room? Then she remembered: it’s Friday. The first book club meeting.

“Oh.” 

Annabeth started to shut off the game. She still had two more rooms that she had to decorate (and redo the landscaping because it was _horrid_ ).

Rachel set down her paintbrush and turned around grinning at Annabeth. “I can’t believe you got him to sign up for a club. A _book_ club. He hates reading. I tried getting him to read _Harry Potter_ once and he could barely get past chapter one.”

Percy had good taste if he closed the book after chapter one. 

“To be fair,” Annabeth said as she shut her laptop, “Harry Potter is pretty overrated.”

Rachel just smiled at Annabeth as she got up and slipped on her _Sperry’s_. Annabeth considered for a moment on rain checking with Percy. She felt as if the week had exhausted her but she also knew Percy was doing this for her. He signed up for this because he wanted her to have a decent time in college and actually make friends. The only way that Annabeth could make it up to him was to actually go to the meeting.

“I’ll order some pizzas for when you guys come back,” Rachel said smiling at Annabeth. “Have fun!”

Annabeth grabbed her purse and waved at Rachel as she opened the door and was met with Percy’s chest. 

“Well, hello to you too,” Percy said, his voice startling Annabeth to look up at him. “You ready to be nerds together?”

Annabeth felt her cheeks burn and she quickly looked away from Percy and moved around him, shutting the door behind her. 

Maybe she should have rain checked after all.

* * *

Book club meetings were exactly what they looked like in the movies. It was a small group of students - no more than fifteen - all seated in a circle at the library. The goal of this meeting was to get to know one another, which was usually Annabeth’s least favorite part of joining anything. It was always awkward to introduce yourself for one reason or another but Annabeth noticed that the second people started introducing themselves, that this wasn’t like a normal classroom setting. This was a group of people that were actually happy to be there and wanted to know what everyone’s tastes in books were. 

It felt like a blur to Annabeth being there, she could barely remember anything except how much she had enjoyed it. It had been thrilling to actually talk to people about the books that she liked and meeting people who just happened to share those same interests. 

High school was truly nothing compared to the college experience. Thalia really hadn’t been kidding when she talked for hours to Annabeth after a night out of partying. Annabeth always thought she was exaggerating, enjoying the stories nonetheless. She now understood what exactly Thalia was on about how high school will feel like it never existed once you got into college. Already a week in and while Annabeth didn’t have more than a few friends, she was enjoying the time there.

Annabeth did notice that Percy was a little awkward there at the book club and by the time they got to the end of the meeting and the two of them headed back to her dorm together, she felt bad. This wasn’t his interest and she knew even though she did end up enjoying her time… Percy didn’t.

“That was fun,” Percy said. They had been walking in silence. The sun was setting now and it painted the campus a deep orange color. 

Annabeth had always liked sunsets. Sunsets were always associated with endings. _Happy_ endings.

Annabeth glanced at Percy from the corner of her eye. His hands were buried deep in the pockets of his jeans. He was looking around, not necessarily focusing on anything in particular. 

“Yeah,” she responded quietly. She hesitated for a moment. “I’m sorry if that wasn’t your thing. I know it isn’t… you don’t have to join me again or anything.” Annabeth hadn’t meant to stutter but it was the guilt eating at her. She had never seen Percy look so awkward somewhere and it didn’t sit right with her.

When she looked over at him Percy was looking at her with raised eyebrows. “Why would I do that?” he asked.

“Well… you did look a little awkward.” Annabeth tried to avoid eye contact but he was looking at her and, frankly, Annabeth liked when he looked at her because that gave her permission to look at _him_ and admire his eyes.

“Well,” Percy started looking at her. He hesitated a moment and she saw him trying to figure out what he was going to say next but nothing came out then he looked away.

_Had Annabeth been staring too hard?_

She looked away too.

Percy continued, “I wasn’t in my element, sure. I did have a good time though. I mean… as long as you had a good time then I have nothing to complain about.”

“You were bored, though,” Annabeth countered.

“Who said I was bored?”

Annabeth rolled her hands vaguely. “Well, you said books weren’t your thing, you preferred movies instead.”

“That doesn’t mean I was bored, Annabeth.”

Annabeth raised her hand to argue that he could have been bored, before she could say anything, though, Percy stepped in front of her and placed his hands on his shoulders, the two of them stopping on the sidewalk. Annabeth could see the dorm in the distance and she desperately tried to focus on that but his eyes were _right there_.

“I had a great time and I want to do it again,” Percy said sternly. Annabeth looked up at him and nodded her head once, seeing that he did really mean it. 

“What this is offering me,” Percy continued with a small grin dropping his hands, “is a lot of great books to read. More specifically Wikipedia summaries to read.”

Annabeth stared up at him and the two of them stood there. Although Percy kept his distance, Annabeth thought about how easily she could reach out and touched him. Her shoulders, though covered by an old science camp t-shirt, still tingled from his touch. 

Annabeth flicked her eyes towards the dorm, thinking about Rachel.

“If I catch you reading a _Little Women_ Wikipedia summary instead of the actual book,” Annabeth said finally, looking back at Percy, “I will kill you.”

Percy grinned at Annabeth and turned, continuing to walk toward the dorm. “A challenge,” he said, walking. “I like it.”

* * *

For the next two days, Annabeth couldn’t get Percy out of her head.

She wasn’t sure what had done it for her. His eyes? His smile? The platonic touch that meant absolutely nothing? The fact that _Percy Jackson_ , a person who didn’t care much for reading, chose to accompany Annabeth to a book club meeting so she wouldn’t feel so alone?

He was ruining her.

She ended up spending most of her time over in Piper’s dorm.

Piper didn’t seem to mind, she was spending the weekend working on her first big project for her fashion history class which left room for Annabeth to talk and _talk_. 

Annabeth didn’t talk a lot, so Piper was all ears to learn about the person who finally took over Annabeth’s head and left her swimming in a puddle of emotions.

Piper’s roommate wasn’t there, which spared Annabeth the humiliation.

Annabeth hadn’t meant to talk about him, in fact on Saturday she had managed to _not_ talk about him. By the time Sunday rolled around though and Percy came knocking on her dorm door to pick up Rachel so they could go to an art exhibit and go on a thrift shopping date, Annabeth couldn’t hold it in any longer. She had burst into Piper’s open door- her dorm was _always_ open - and said that she needed to talk.

Piper had been all ears, she loved the gossip.

By the time Annabeth finished explaining everything, which frankly wasn’t much, Piper was staring at Annabeth in amazement.

“Shit,” Piper said after a couple minutes of silence. “You got it bad for this boy.”

Annabeth groaned and buried her head in Piper’s pillow. “I’m fucked,” she mumbled. “I’m completely fucked.”

“Not _completely_ ,” Piper argued. “Just a little.”

Annabeth picked her head up and gave Piper a withering look.

Piper threw up her hands and turned back to her laptop where she was sketching a design of a dress from the Victorian era. “I’m just kidding,” Piper said as she continued to sketch. “Look, I know it’s going to be hard but it’ll pass. Remember when I had a crush on Thalia at one point? I got over it.”

Annabeth placed her chin in the palm of her hand. “Everyone has a crush on Thalia at one point or another, though.”

“ _Exactly_. So, if that’s the case, everyone probably has a crush on Percy. He isn’t my type but I can see the appeal. You’ll be just like me and learn that it probably wasn’t a crush but you just admire him because he did one nice thing.”

Crushes were weird and Annabeth usually avoided getting them. The last person that she had a real crush on was her ex-best friend Luke Castellan. To be fair, she was only twelve at the time and he was the one of the two people she had in her life who was helping her with everything that she was going through with her parents, so Annabeth felt she wasn’t to blame for that. She had gotten over Luke after some time even when she felt like she would _never_ get over him. 

Percy could be the same way. Plus, there was a huge chance she was never going to see him after the semester was over. 

“Yeah,” Annabeth said finally. “I guess you’re right.”

Piper grinned at Annabeth over her shoulder. “Aren’t I always?”

* * *

Annabeth didn’t think about Percy most of the week. 

She had managed to avoid him as much as possible, which wasn’t too difficult now that Annabeth had her routine. 

Luckily for her, Leo was a good homework partner. If Annabeth didn’t understand something, usually Leo tended to know it. If Leo didn’t understand something, Annabeth usually knew it.

When Thursday rolled around, Rachel had texted Annabeth that she wasn’t going to be in the dorm that day, that she was going out with her art club friends to central park. Annabeth took that as an opportunity to head back to her dorm instead of the library, which Leo didn’t mind.

As she got to the floor of her dorm though, Annabeth was surprised to find Percy sitting in front of her dorm door, leaned back against it. He had his knees drawn to his chest with a book resting on his knees. He had earbuds plugged in and didn’t seem to notice the world around him. 

Annabeth debated leaving but he was _right there_. 

She walked over and tapped his shoulder. “Percy?” 

Percy flinched and looked up at Annabeth, his sea green eyes startling her too and she stepped back. Percy tugged out his earbuds, pressing pause on his phone. 

“Hey,” he said with a smile, closing the book he was reading. 

“Hey-” Annabeth started but caught the name of the book he was reading and felt her breath hitch. There was a bookmark about a fourth of the way through the book. “Is that _Little Women_?” 

Percy grinned, his eyes sparkling, clearly _delighted_ that Annabeth had noticed. “Yeah! I found it at this thrift store Rachel and I went to this weekend. I’m reading it with the audiobook.” He held up his phone, the screen showing the paused audiobook.

Annabeth’s brain couldn’t compute what she was seeing and watched as Percy stood up from the ground, putting his phone back into his pockets and putting the wired earbuds around the back of his neck for safe keeping.

“Is it for a class?” Annabeth finally asked.

He shook his head looking back at Annabeth, still smiling that proud smile of his. “No. You said that you liked the book. So, I wanted to read it.”

“You… What?”

“I figured you know the best of the best.” He looked at the book for a moment. “So far it’s pretty good. I haven’t gotten too far into it but I like it.”

Annabeth could remember the one time a boy flirted with her in a _Barnes and Noble_ . She had been browsing for _The Picture of Dorian Gray_ by Oscar Wilde because Annabeth’s AP Literature teacher in high school recommended it to her. The boy was only a few inches taller than she was and had talked to Annabeth and she had shared to him that her favorite book was, in fact, _Little Women_. He had told her that was her favorite book too and Annabeth had immediately been interested.

It wasn’t a crush, just mere interest.

Turns out, after two weeks of being in the talking stage, Piper had managed to find out by her magical means of finding out everything that that guy had in fact not been into reading at all and had lied because he was trying to get into Annabeth’s pants.

Annabeth decided she would never trust a guy who said that they read unless she saw it with her own eyes.

Here was Percy Jackson, though. Reading the book she had loved since she was a child because she said she loved it. He was reading it because it made her happy and he wanted to get to know her better and Annabeth was shit at expressing her emotions. 

He did this for her.

Annabeth finally formed words. “I…” her voice faltered for a moment. “Thank you. That’s really nice of you.” 

It was more than nice and the both of them knew it, at least Annabeth hoped that Percy knew it. 

She reached into her bag for the key to the dorm and Percy stepped aside as she unlocked the door. The two of them walked inside after Annabeth gestured for him to come in.

“You don’t have to thank me,” he said as Annabeth shut the door. She walked over to her bed and set her bag down, looking over at Percy. “I saw the way you talked about the book at the meeting. I wanted to get that same feeling the book made you get.”

Annabeth felt her stomach churn but in that way that made her want to blush.

“Hopefully it will give you that feeling,” she said, offering a smile to Percy. She sat back on her bed while she watched Percy lay back onto Rachel’s. She watched as he opened up the book and before he put his earbuds in she said: “Hey maybe we can have our own personal book club. I’ll watch movies you recommend too.”

Percy looked back up at her and blinked once, processing her words. “Really?”

Annabeth shrugged, “Sure. Seems only fair- _Little Women_ was a huge first step into the magical world of literature.”

“It’s better than Harry Potter so far.” 

“To be fair,” Annabeth pointed out, “anything is better than Harry Potter.”

They grinned at each other and Annabeth forced herself to look away finally and head over to the desk in the small dorm where she sat and turned on her laptop. She closed her eyes and let out a breath.

_You do not have feelings for Percy Jackson_ , Annabeth thinks sternly. _No matter how much you think you do. You do not._

_You do not._

_You do_ not _._

* * *

Later that evening, Rachel came around with two boxes of pizza for the three of them. Annabeth, of course, could never say no to pizza and she offered that the three of them should watch a movie together which Percy and Rachel seemed happy to do. 

Percy offered for them to watch the movie  _ Dirty Dancing _ . Admittedly, Annabeth had never really seen that movie. Her dad was a fan of movies from the eighties and back but this was one of the few eighties movies that she just hadn’t had the time to see. She much preferred the older movies that she and her dad liked watching when she was younger like  _ Roman Holiday _ ,  _ War and Peace _ and  _ My Fair Lady _ .

She was willing to give this movie a chance though, especially since Percy seemed excited to see it. If Percy was willing to read a book that made Annabeth excited, it was only right that she gave the enthusiasm for a film that made him excited.

And the film was great. For more reasons than just the film, to be fair. 

Percy knew the movie like the back of his hand and would quote the movie like he had been acting in it instead. It was mesmerizing to watch and also far more amusing than the movie. Anytime Annabeth would turn her head to listen to him, though, Percy would turn Annabeth’s face back to the direction of her laptop screen saying to pay attention to the  _ movie _ .

By the time the movie finished, Rachel had ended up falling asleep against Percy. Most of the pizza was gone by that point, Percy had eaten an entire box by himself and only two slices were left from the pizza box that Rachel and Annabeth were sharing. 

Percy was quiet as he sat there, playing with Rachel’s curls as she slept and Annabeth found herself moving to clean up the mess. 

“Hey Annabeth?” Percy whispered. 

Annabeth looked over at him quietly as she reached out and shut her laptop closed as the credits were rolling. “Yeah?”

Percy was just looking down at Rachel and Annabeth kept cleaning up. 

“Have you been avoiding the dorm when I’m over?”

“Um,” Annabeth froze in her cleaning and was reluctant to look at Percy now. It wasn’t obvious she was avoiding, was it? What could have given it away? “I just… don’t want to bother you and Rachel,” Annabeth said slowly. 

Percy didn’t say anything for a long while, leaving Annabeth back to picking up their mess and tossing the empty pizza boxes away. For as much as Annabeth had been dreading the time to see Percy and Rachel being against each other, it wasn’t as bad. It didn’t hurt Annabeth as much as she thought it would. 

This was proof: Annabeth  _ definitely  _ did not have a crush on Percy. 

“Don’t worry about that,” he said at last. He looked at Annabeth and Annabeth looked at him. “We’re never really doing much anyway… come by more. You’re fun to hang out with, you know?”

Annabeth, unsure of how to respond, just nodded her head and went ahead to put her laptop away. She listened as Percy woke Rachel up, saying he had to get going before curfew hit. Annabeth tried not to focus too much on them interacting and just focused on cleaning up so they could go to bed.

Rachel and Percy said their goodbyes and Annabeth felt Percy touch her shoulder to get her attention and Annabeth whipped her head around to look at him and he smiled at her. 

“See you tomorrow,” he said before dropping his hand and heading out of their dorm.

Annabeth looked away and down at her bag where she was putting her laptop into. She closed her eyes with a soft sigh. 

_ Okay,  _ she thought bitterly,  _ maybe I do like him but it’s fine. It’s still a work in progress. _


End file.
